It always annoys me that the Olympics medals table is represented in either rankings by amount of gold won, or totals of medals won. Surely the most accurate way would be to use a points system.
If we were to recalculate the official IOC table (going by numbers of gold medals, with numbers of silvers as a tie breaker) to one utilising a points system with each gold counting four points, a silver two and bronze one, the Top 8 standings would be changed, but there'd be some significant changes in the midfield.
So here's the points system Top 30, with IOC ranking in brackets. Numbers of golds become the tie breaker (if still equal, silver)
1. (1) USA 282 points
2. (2) Great Britain 169
3. (3) China 166
4. (4) Russia 121
5. (5) Germany 102
6. (6) Japan 85
7. (7) France 84
8. (9) Australia 53
9. (8) South Korea 51
10. (10) Italy 50
11. (11) Netherlands 48
12. (12) Hungary 42
13. (14) Brazil 42
14. (19) New Zealand 39
15. (13) Spain 38
16. (20) Canada 37
17. (16) Kenya 33
18. (15) Jamaica 32
19. (21) Kazakhstan 31
20. (18) Cuba 30
21. (17) Croatia 28
22. (26) Sweden 23
23. (38) Denmark 23
24. (27) South Africa 22
25. (28) Ukraine 22
26. (39) Azerbaijan 22
28. (29) Poland 20
29. (22) Colombia 19
30. (32) Uzbekistan 17
Falling out of the Top 30 are Greece (24th on the IOC rankings/16 points), Argentina (25th/13), North Korea and Serbia (both 30th/16).
The highest climbers are Denmark (15 places) and Azerbaijan (13), who had won many silvers and bronze medals, but only one gold each. New Zealand, Canada and Sweden also benefit from the points system.
(Apologies for any miscalculations that might have occurred. I didn't double check everything)
If we were to recalculate the official IOC table (going by numbers of gold medals, with numbers of silvers as a tie breaker) to one utilising a points system with each gold counting four points, a silver two and bronze one, the Top 8 standings would be changed, but there'd be some significant changes in the midfield.
So here's the points system Top 30, with IOC ranking in brackets. Numbers of golds become the tie breaker (if still equal, silver)
1. (1) USA 282 points
2. (2) Great Britain 169
3. (3) China 166
4. (4) Russia 121
5. (5) Germany 102
6. (6) Japan 85
7. (7) France 84
8. (9) Australia 53
9. (8) South Korea 51
10. (10) Italy 50
11. (11) Netherlands 48
12. (12) Hungary 42
13. (14) Brazil 42
14. (19) New Zealand 39
15. (13) Spain 38
16. (20) Canada 37
17. (16) Kenya 33
18. (15) Jamaica 32
19. (21) Kazakhstan 31
20. (18) Cuba 30
21. (17) Croatia 28
22. (26) Sweden 23
23. (38) Denmark 23
24. (27) South Africa 22
25. (28) Ukraine 22
26. (39) Azerbaijan 22
28. (29) Poland 20
29. (22) Colombia 19
30. (32) Uzbekistan 17
Falling out of the Top 30 are Greece (24th on the IOC rankings/16 points), Argentina (25th/13), North Korea and Serbia (both 30th/16).
The highest climbers are Denmark (15 places) and Azerbaijan (13), who had won many silvers and bronze medals, but only one gold each. New Zealand, Canada and Sweden also benefit from the points system.
(Apologies for any miscalculations that might have occurred. I didn't double check everything)
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